Copyright politico
The attacks forever changed the country and its politics, tipping the balance of protecting civil liberties versus ensuring public safety in favor of the latter. Since 2015, France has passed a slew of laws meant to ensure such an event could never happen again. Members of parliament have expanded the state’s surveillance powers and its ability to impose restrictive measures without prior judicial approval. They’ve also reshaped France’s immigration policy and oversight of religious — particularly Muslim — organizations. “Successive governments — left-wing or right-wing — have reinforced the legal arsenal on anti-terror policy, and it’ll likely continue in the future to remain as close as possible to emerging challenges,” said Jean-Michel Fauvergue, who in 2015 was the head of the police RAID unit — France’s equivalent of SWAT. Proponents of what Fauvergue, who served as a lawmaker for President Emmanuel Macron’s party from 2017 to 2022, described as France’s “beautiful shield providing excellent protection” argue that it has helped prevent mass casualty incidents since the attack in Nice in 2016. Nicolas Lerner, the head of France’s foreign intelligence service, said in a radio interview Monday that while authorities remain extremely vigilant, the probability of another massive, complex attack organized by extremists abroad has “considerably diminished.” A former adviser to another interior minister, granted anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, reiterated that sentiment to POLITICO. After going so many years without a major terror incident, it’s unlikely any politician will try to pare back this new reality of heightened alerts, increased surveillance and the omnipresence of armed soldiers.
